Bloody noses and African winds

Heya peeps

I'm just going to jump right into to my bullet points and explain the week like this because I feel like it's v easy haha so I hope y'all are ready

"The anziani from the district!...minus mistretta cause they're over an hour away"

- About the first half of the title, my allergies kicked in full force this week and I've been getting bloody noses like no other hahaha. It's not as bad this time around. Last year was awful because I didn't have any allergy pills (thanks pops for getting those to me), and it was soooo obvious haha. Sneezing, itchy eyes, bloody noses, the whole package haha. This year is better though. It's all just bloody noses. Literally every time I even lightly tap my nose it starts bleeding haha. It's made for some pretty awkward situations this week though but also some miracles! We walked into a little shop near a member's house because I needed to buy tissues and the guy at the cashier asked where we were from and long story short, we're going to go back and give him a Book of Mormon! Thank goodness for bloody noses😂

- AFRICAN WINDS THO. So every year around and during the summer months, there are these hot winds that come from Africa that carry sand and dirt all the way across the Mediterranean (cause it's really not that long anyways) and it shows up here in Sicily. They call it sirocco. Oh man it happened this week and I just remember walking out the door and straight into a wall of heat and dust and I honestly thought I'd die that day🙃

- Anziano Misa and I are getting along really well!...too well, I feel like haha. We actually end up laughing so hard that we can't do studies or leave the house and it's making it hard BUT it's a good time. One time though we went off about how if Italians wanted to say lol it would sound something like "ell-eh ohh ell-eh" hahahahahaha.

- We started playing soccer as a house each morning! I don't know why but getting up here and working out is super rough but as soon as there's soccer, I'm there. Getting up at 6:30 just to get up? Nahh. But getting up at 6 to play soccer? IM THERE!! It's been fun:)

"I passed out the other day and this is what happened while I slept hahaha"

- Did an exchange this week with the other anziani in our house which was fun! Haha I was with Anziano Haws (who got here last transfer) and we got some good work done. Most importantly though is that we found and bought a guitar for 7 euro haha. We walked past it the first time and the guy said he was selling it for 10 euro and we said "nah we don't have that kind of money" but came back not three minutes later and offered him 7 euro haha. Here in Palermo a lot of people just pull stuff out of garbages and sell it again on the street, and that's probably where the guitar came from. It's in pretty good condition though, so we're happy😂

"Those buildings in the background, though" 

- Seeing as how me and Anziano Misa are still both pretty new here, we spent a lot of time this week just trying to figure out the city and let's just say we discovered a lot of what doesn't work haha. Good news is though that we're happy and looking forward to this upcoming week!

Now for the more spiritual part of things! We've had some cool experiences and learned a lot!

- The first lesson is actually the same as the last bullet point I mentioned. Yes, its difficult and confusing, but we're loving it and learning that as we put forward  foot, God is lightening the burden we feel on our shoulders. Matthew 11:28-30!

"28 ¶ Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Christ's ability to strengthen us and lift us up is real, but we have to do our part and come unto him. That's where we've been living this past week -- trying to make sure that we are actively engaged in the work and showing our faith! Because it's nice to say we have faith, but faith is more than a word, it's a life style. And honestly we've been blessed with so much, its just come down to us using what we've been given.

"We ate at an American place for lunch one day"

- We also spent a lot of effort just seeking to overcome the natural man inside of us. It's soooo easy to be out at 8 o'clock with nothing to do and just say "okay let's go home. It's close enough that we won't be wasting too much time." But we allllll know where rationalizations come from. It's hard, but with God's help and the help of Christ, we've set some goals to use our time as best we can! It'll be rough, but it all comes back to that faith and showing Christ that we're willing. It's been extremely humbling, but I love it!:)

- There have been a few people this week where we've just done such a terrible job of sharing the gospel but somehow still end up with their numbers. It's been a testimony for me of how this is truly Christ's work! It's not at all about what we do or what we even feel like we're good at doing, but all about a willingness to just try. MAN HAS IT BEEN A WEEK ABOUT FAITH!

- Striving to understand studies and how I can do them better. I spent a lot of time this week praying and seeking to have better studies because I feel like mine have just been really bad. After studying a little in preach my gospel chapter two and D&C 11:21

"21 Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men."

and D&C 84:85

"85 Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man."s

I've come down to this!: effective studies must begin with prayer, during the which we seek 1) the companionship of the Holy Ghost and 2) humility. During studies, we need to be studying for a specific reason (a question in mind for example) and also take time to ponder on what we read. Then comes the most important step...application! And sincerely seeking to change through Christ. It's been getting better, and during studies, I've honestly felt better prepared to teach:)

All in all, it's been a great week! Forgot to mention it, but I Skyped as well

and I just have to say how much I love my family! Especially my mum! Happy Mother's Day to you once again☺

Hope y'all make it a great week!

Che la gloria sia sempre a Dio

Anziano Hansen

May the 4th be with you

Sorry I had to it wasn't a choice (also I lack creativity when it comes to titles my b)

Hey people how y'all doin

So I really liked typing out my email last week in bullet point format so I'm going to try it again this week and hope it goes just as well! Things worthy of mentioning that happened this week:

- Well this isn't like, a highlight or anything, but Anziano Adepoju has been pretty sick this week. In total I'd say that we spent about two and a half days inside the house. It was good though because it gave me some time to organize a lot of stuff and clean up the rest of the house, and that's only going to help us have the spirit with us even more! A clean house is a happy house. Aaannndddd I may or may have not also taken a few naps. That's just one of the perks of being a missionary -- you're able to fall asleep whenever you want wherever you want because you're typically exhausted😂

"It's the district!"

- I sang all three verses of the star spangled banner

while cleaning the kitchen this week and felt so patriotic that I ALMOST (not really...kinda just throwing it in for emphasis) cried. But really though the second and third verses are so good

"2. On the shore, dimly seen thru the mists of the deep,

     Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

     What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

     As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

     Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

     In full glory reflected now shines on the stream;

     'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh, long may it wave

     O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

"3. Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand

     Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!

     Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land

     Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation!

     Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

     And this be our motto: "In God is our trust!"

     And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

     O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!" 

(Text: Francis Scott Key, 1779-1843)

why do we never sing them?🤔

- Visiting a sick member in the hospital!!....who was surrounded by Jehovah's Witnesses. Man they're trying hard to get this one. It was a little awkward because we actually needed their help to get up to the member's room, but they were pretty chill about it. We walked in though and apparently they'd been there all day and had brought her tons of stuff and food and even got loads of their members to sign a poster for her haha.

- I got mail! And the majority of it was really unexpected. Just so you guys know, for a missionary (especially in a foreign country), getting mail is like Christmas and makes our day! Am I suggesting that you send me letters? Nahhh absolutely not I'd never go that low...but I'm just saying you could be the difference in a missionary's day if you'll send them a letter☺👍🏼

- ALMOST going to Enna for a Palermo stake olympics activity with a ton of younger members and investigators. Unfortunately, Enna is too far away and is actually out of our zone and we couldn't get permission to go. Sad day☹️

- The Bagheria anziani (Bagheria is the city that neighbors Palermo) had a guitar in their house that another anziano brought from Catania when he was transferred there, and neither of them know how to play, so they brought it to Palermo! I MISS PLAYING GUITAR and I've basically been playing it with every free moment I have.

- We had a picnic this last week with some of our members and investigators on the Italian holiday "liberation day". Basically it's the day that the Americans freed the Italians from German rule during the Second World War and eeeveryone has a picnic that day. It was fun!

"A picture from the picnic we had"

- We went bowling on Monday

"Bowling"

for the birthday of one of the Anziani and during the first game I got the second highest score with 119😎 ...second game though, I didn't even break 80😭 meh. I had my moment of glory and that's what matters.


All in all it was a good week! Yeah, we could've done a lot of things better, but that's what this upcoming week is for! We'll take what we learned from last week and apply it here so we can be even better this week😊 Moving forward, here are some of the tender mercies/important things I learned this week:

- I was able to realize this week why I've never really worried about having a position of leadership in the mission. I realized that everything we go through in our own lives is what God needs US to go through personally in order to become the people he needs us to be. Yeah I could look at district or zone leaders and think "man I wish I could be one of them", but what's the point? The reason they are where they are isn't because they're better, but simply because God knows that during their time in that position, there's something they'll learn that will help them in their eternal progression. If God ever needs me to learn something by being a district or zone leader, then I'll do it and I'll do it with gratitude for the opportunity to serve and to learn.

- One of the huge tender mercies for me this week was getting the confirmation that everything will be alright for this upcoming transfer. My recent comp has been here for 5 transfers now, and the mission president basically told me that he's leaving. That makes me nervous because I still don't know the area very well and beyond that, I just feel like I won't be able to connect to the people here as well as my companion does. As I've been praying about it this week though, I received the strongest feeling that God is going to make good things happen. He reminded me that this isn't my work, it's His. It's not about what I can do or even what I feel like I'm capable of, it's about God watching over and caring for His children. And he will do that! All he needs me to do is give my best effort and not give up. It reminds me of a scripture that elder Bednar

(Image source: https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/leaders/david-a-bednar-large.jpg)

shared in the missionary broadcast in January from Alma 26 which says

"Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing--unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance."

It doesn't say that it's by our faith and repentance that these people are brought to the truth, but it says unto people who exercise faith and repent, such things are GIVEN, implying that there's only one who can make it a success, and it's definitely not me. It's God. There's been a few other experiences as well during prayer where I've received strong impressions, and that's strengthened my testimony that God is listening. A key principle to prayer though is our meditation both during and after prayer. It's in those quiet moments that he can speak to us, because his voice isn't loud, but still and quiet.

- So as I've been reading the Book of Mormon with questions in mind, we've actually been blessed with opportunities to use those scriptures in both finding and teaching situations. It's been really cool to see how when we go the extra mile to be prepared, the Lord will use us!

- During zone conference we made a list of things that are good, better, and best with regards to different aspects of missionary work. One that came to mind this week was one that was offered for when we teach lessons. We decided that it's good to present doctrine, it's better to explain doctrine, but it's best to ask questions that allow people to feel the spirit and gain testimonies for themselves. And that's what I tried really hard to do this week! We actually only taught two lessons, but during one of them, I focused not on presenting or even explaining the doctrine, but on helping him remember, understand, and recognize the spirit through asking him questions. And that's something I love so much about this new booklet they have for teaching in the saviors way.

(Image source: https://d1zqayhc1yz6oo.cloudfront.net/2d6ee5d16deec8077ca9c81db8003c08.jpeg)

I've studied it a tiny bit, and that's what I feel this is all about. It's all about helping people grow and maintain their testimonies, and that's the best way to do it!

- I also had a cool experience this week with the sacrament. I studied the prayers earlier this week and realized something I'd never thought about before. Whoever is praying asks not for the emblems to be blessed to our bodies, but to be blessed to our souls. I know that we all already know this, but it reminded me that the partaking of the sacrament itself is not what's important. The ordinance itself means nothing UNLESS our hearts have first been changed. Taking the sacrament is merely the physical representation of a change that's happened internally throughout the week. It takes preparation and sincere repentance, but when we put in that effort, God blesses us even more.

- We also have an investigator who asked to postpone his baptism not because he doesn't want to be baptized, but because he wants to make sure that he's ready. I think it's so cool that he recognizes the weight of what he's doing!

God is moving his work forward, and I'm blessed beyond description to be a small part of that right now. I'm lovin it❤️❤️❤️

Make it a great week homies. VVB!

Che la gloria sia sempre a Dio

"So it's a sweet roll with gelato on it and it's soooo good"

Anziano Hansen